The Cleveland Browns are reportedly looking within the AFC North as they begin their search for a new head coach after firing Kevin Stefanski.
NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport reported Tuesday that Cleveland requested to interview Baltimore Ravens offensive coordinator Todd Monken for its vacant coaching position. Rapoport noted Monken “received multiple requests last year and should again.”
He isn’t the only candidate on Cleveland’s radar, as Rapoport also reported the team requested an interview with Seattle Seahawks defensive coordinator Aden Durde.
This is Durde’s second season as the DC in Seattle, and his group finished the 2025 campaign first in the league in points allowed and sixth in the league in yards allowed. The defense is a major reason the Seahawks finished with the NFC’s No. 1 seed and the first-round bye that comes with it.
As for Monken, he has extensive experience at both the collegiate and NFL levels, although he has never been a head coach in the NFL.
He was the head coach of Southern Mississippi for three seasons from 2013 to 2015 and has been on staff with various positions with Notre Dame, Eastern Michigan, Louisiana Tech, Oklahoma State, LSU, the Jacksonville Jaguars, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Cleveland, Georgia and Baltimore.
Cleveland is familiar with his work, as he was the offensive coordinator for the Browns in 2019 before serving in the same role for Georgia the following three seasons and Baltimore the last three seasons.
The Bulldogs won back-to-back College Football Playoff national championships when he was leading the offense, and the Ravens have been to the playoffs in two of his three seasons. Their run to the AFC Championship Game during the 2023 campaign happened during Monken’s first season as well.
While Baltimore was just 11th in the league in scoring offense in 2025, it was fourth in 2023 and third in 2024. It also led the league in total yards in 2024 with the Lamar Jackson and Derrick Henry combination proving difficult to stop.
Cleveland needs an offensive reboot, so it makes sense it would be looking at a proven offensive coach like Monken.
It finished this past season 30th in the league in yards and 31st in points while rotating through quarterbacks Joe Flacco, Dillon Gabriel and Shedeur Sanders. While Sanders was a headline name, he was a fifth-round draft pick and struggled throughout his rookie campaign.
In fact, he was 37th in the league in QBR, per Football Reference, which was just behind Gabriel at 36.
The Browns need to figure out what to do with the quarterback position as well this offseason, so bringing in an offensive coach could help in that process.